Acute phase reactant proteins--an aid to monitoring surgical treatment of laryngeal carcinoma.

The serum concentration of four acute phase reactant proteins (haptoglobin, sialic acid, alpha 1-antitripsin, ceruloplasmin) were determined in 160 patients with laryngeal cancer. In 50 cases treated by surgery serial determinations were performed. The control group included healthy persons and patients with non-neoplastic diseases. The levels of haptoglobin, alpha 1-antitripsin and sialic acid were significantly higher in cancer patients than in control group. The levels of ceruloplasmin reveals no statistically significant difference between particular groups of patients. The serum concentrations of haptoglobin, alpha 1-antitripsin and sialic acid correlated with the clinical status of cancer patients. We suggest that serial determination of certain acute phase reactant proteins may be useful as a prognostic acid in following patients with laryngeal carcinoma.